Hi there and a head butt and belly rub to all the new subscribers who have braved the elements since the last Mewsletter went out.

For those of you who have been with us here at The Daily Mews for years, you’ll know that we’ve been ‘off line’ for the past six months or so undergoing a complete redesign and revamp. It’s been a huge task as there were upwards of almost 1,300 articles/items to transport over to the new editing package. Links had to be checked and where some articles had been on the site since the very beginning, in some cases those links no longer worked, so articles had to be changed or links deleted. All good fun, though, and although there are still a few things to be transferred over, the website can go live – and it is live RIGHT NOW!!! So – close your eyes, and let me lead you by the hand to a safe place where you can look at it in what is – hopefully – wonder and awe at your new look website.

Well, here it is!!! (Drum roll and fanfare please!!!)

I hope you’ll take time to have a good look around your new-look Daily Mews website. I think many of you read the Mewsletter, click on the links and that’s that. But the Daily Mews website is much, much more than the Mewsletter. There are dozens of categories with lots of articles on all kinds of topics relating to cats, and then there are the Mewsers’ Mewsings which includes Stormy’s Diaries, Jimmy’s Mewsings, Dumpty’s Diaries, Ollie’s Diaries, Fallon Felines, Willi Whizkas and Mewsers’ Corner which encompasses the points of view written by all the other literate felines throughout the world.

There is a veritable feast for the eyes and soul to digest and I do hope you’ll take the time to not only have a good rummage round but you’ll report back to me and let me know what you think. If you do find any links that don’t work or any funny hieroglyphics where there shouldn’t be any, please let me know won’t you? As you can imagine, with over a million articles being transferred over, one or two may get missed in the transfer.

It’s been nearly 7 months since I last put any new content on the ‘old look’ website and therefore I have tons of stuff that needed to be published, in addition to the 1,300 articles and items that I transferred over. < pawses for applawse!!! >

A huge heart felt thank you to Mick and Tony of PC Homecare who redesigned and revamped the website and helped me when they could – work loads permitting. I couldn’t have done it without their help and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

Now, I hate to talk about money given that we’re all feeling the pinch but as you can probably imagine it took a lot of time and effort to get the Daily Mews into the sleek, feline purring machine that it is today. So I’m going to leave it up to you – if you feel that you’d like to make a ‘Love Offering’ (it IS Valentine’s Day, after all) to contribute towards the new look Daily Mews, Sam, Ollie and myself would be over the moon. If you can’t, then that’s ok as well.

I do have a PayPal account: p.dewberry@ntlworld.comand it’s very easy to send money – and perfectly safe – this way. You can choose the currency so set it to Pounds Sterling. But thank you in advance – I’m extremely grateful. For those who do donate something, there will be a box alongside the ‘Subscribe to the Mewsletter’ form where ‘Friends of the Mewsers’ will be heralded for all time. Helen Gale of Torquay, UK, and Ham Moran of Minnesota, USA are the first ‘Friends’ who have kindly given ‘love offerings’. There is also a ‘Donate’ button which takes you straight to PayPal.

Last week Sam was diagnosed with kidney disease, which in a cat of his years – he’s 16 on Valentine’s Day – is not unusual. At the moment he is being treated by corrective diet specially designed for kidney problems and he hasn’t taken too well to his new regime. Ollie thinks it’s all a huge wheeze and tucks into Sam’s dinner when he isn’t looking!

Weather-wise in the UK – what a strange year 2012 was. It started off as the driest spring since records began and then ended as the wettest for over 100 years. Recently, we had quite a bad week in our part of the UK with a fair bit of snow. Although Ollie doesn’t mind going out in it, Sam doesn’t like it so I get the litter tray out for him.

ON WITH THE MEWS:

Barbara Florio Graham’s cat Simon Teakettle III (Terzo) put on a ‘Mewsical’ just before Christmas and Ollie was invited to take part. Here’s the blurb:

‘Simon Teakettle III (Terzo) has just overhauled his MEWSical Society, promoted some cats from the Fan Club to Society membership, and others to the cast of the Society's Virtual Productions.

We're happy to announce that Cujo, Kali, Kieran, and Emerson have all been cast as Pirates in Peter Pan, and Ollie has been cast as Bashful in Snow White. See that page at:

We all know that cats make friends with other species and you will love this next story from Glenda Wombwell. She is a friend of mine who moved from where we live in the South East of England down to a lovely house in Somerset, in the South West of the UK. I’ve been badgering her to write about her cat, Sid, for ages. Sid became the personal friend and confidante of two giant tortoises, Ben and Sheila.

Sandy Edmunson wrote about how she befriended a little calico cat which she named Callie

Helen Dowd in Canada sent me this lovely piece ‘ghost written’ by her cat, Casper about a bombastic bombshell called Blondie:

John Grafton has written some very amusing anecdotes about his cats which he’ll be sharing with you over the next few months. The first: ‘What is the cat doing in your mouth?’ will raise a smile.

LindaGavitt has three cats, Chloe, Seamus and Guiseppe and the next piece is from her blog. Waking up with cats will have you nodding with agreement.

Marian Hale sent me two lovely pieces about her cats, Chickie and Pepper. You’ll find the first: ‘Our morning routine’ in the Cat Chat section. Sadly, a couple of years after Marian wrote this piece, her cat Chickie went to Rainbow Bridge. Her poem simply entitled ‘Chickie’ is very moving and you’ll find it in the Napping on a Sunbeam section.

MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS:

Dumpty has continued with her Musings as befits her Royal Status (in her own mind, at least). She has been very prolific since the Daily Mews has been in the throes of being revamped and redesigned so we have quite a few to catch up on. You can read the latest four Musings here:

Jimmy, bless him, did produce something for the expected Christmas update and – if I hadn’t been ill – it would have been on site. But he graciously wrote something new for the ‘launch’ of the new look website. True to Jimmy form, he’s not afraid to speak out on issues which offend his senses.

For new subscribers who are unfamiliar with Jimmy’s views, he’s an elder states Cat who has been a regular correspondent for the Daily Mews for a number of years now. He lost an eye last year and is virtually blind in the other eye. His views are ‘out there’ and he doesn’t mince his words. He says what many of us think but are perhaps, too afraid to voice! I hope we have him around for many years to come because we, here at the Daily Mews, love him to bits.

I have created a new section called ‘Canine Capers’ to accommodate the various stories that I’m sent from different people about their dogs. You’ll find Jim Colasanti Jnr’s stories about his dog, Butchy, here and those by other writers.

Another writer who makes me laugh is Will Perry from Canada; he and his wife have just taken on a little Jack Russell called Jack. You will love Jack’s occasional diaries and those of his Alma Mater, Holly, as life in the Perry household settles into a new routine after Holly lost her soul mate, Toby a while ago.

As a prelude to their diaries, Will has written ‘Little Dawgs’ which you can read here:

I do hope you will come to love your new look Daily Mews website and the streamlined Mewsletter. As always, I welcome your feedback, good, bad or indifferent. The website is here to serve you, to help you make the best possible life for your cats and you, so that you all live harmoniously.

Until the next update (should be about a month’s time, but my eye operation has been rescheduled to 21st February so I’m not sure how long I have to be away from the computer) Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone. Kiss the cat, hug the dog, and stroke your wife or husband!!!! In other words – be nice to each other!!!